Creative Juices

"Sentinel" is finished....I think. I never really know with my work. Sometimes I finish a piece, photograph it, enter it, perhaps, and roll it up to be stowed away. Then at some point I stumble on it again. I find that it looks unfinished and I start tinkering all over again. So if you have any thoughts...I'm open.

"Sentinel" is made from two pieces of fabric, one I purchased years ago from Sunny Bunny Designs and the other, a piece of black Kona cotton, I recently discharged. It is hand (the shibori) and machine (the dark) stitched. I cut a stencil and painted the moon/sun.

Saturday was the monthly meeting of CT Fiber Arts Collective. Because the power is still not available to many parts of CT, including the library where we ususally meet, Barbara Khachane graciously offered her home to the group.

She is pictured here with her finished project of the day.

Carine Greene, using Gwen Headley's book Drawn to Stitch, led the group in a quick line study. It was fun for us all and a really good exercise in flavoring those creative juices. We were all charged up and ready to get back to our studios.

Meditations

Here's a rhetorical question for you: Did you ever have a piece of fabric that you just couldn't cut?

The real question for me is: Who created this beautiful piece of cotton shibori that I could not gather the courage to cut?

As many of you know, I'm not often very happy with the fabric that I dye and only somewhat happy with my discharging efforts. This is exactly why I support others who are successful. I buy their work.

This shibori was purchased from someone...probably within the last year (dating it by the depth at which I found it in my stash). Connie Rose? I don't know...I think I bought greens from her. Sunny Bunny? No, I think I bought warm colored arashi shibori from her. Anybody gotta suggestion?

I have to get better organized (want to enter a poll on how many years THAT'S been on my New Year's Resolution list?). I'm going to try to remember to write in the selvedge the name of the source in the future. I'd love to be able to thank them again, and give them credit, when I have used their work.

I can say that the binding was fabric that I discharged. :^) At least I remember THAT.

In the studio at last

Since returning from Australia in April I have not had productive studio time in large part because I can't work when I have my mind cluttered and preoccupied with responsibilities. Today after all the hosting and guesting jobs were completed I got to spend the entire day in the wonderful solitude of my studio...it was a good day.

This piece was inspired by a piece of hand dyed linen that I purchased from

Connie Rose

(thank you!) and supported by some shibori from Sunny Bunny and another hand dye from an un-remembered source.

This may be the first of a series. Stony Creek Salt Marsh/Summer is roughly 20x30 inches.

It's my plan to submit it, along with Thimble Islands which I completed and posted on June 14th, for exhibit at Willoughby Wallace Library in nearby Stony Creek. The library has wonderful gallery space that is enthusiastically and generously supported by the community. It's always a treat to see their monthly exhibitions.

Hmmm...should the whole thing be flipped? Whatcha think?

Creative spirits living in my studio

Last week I agonized over cutting some exquisite hand dyed fabric.  Besides my attention wandering off to "Crow", I was moved by Elizabeth Gilbert's wonderful YouTube talk.  She might be right about actual creative spirits.  In my case,  I think they are lurking in the corners of my studio. I've always thought that talking or words, with or without music, were not conducive background for me when I'm working.  I need my surrounding to be quiet so I can hear those creative spirits' small voices.

My "boats", that I have variously painted over the years, came to fruition in fabric this week. The work is inspired by a piece of shibori that I bought from Sunny Bunny Designs the week previous.  I, indeed, did not want to cut it.  Instead, I pieced my boats from hand dyed and painted fabrics collected over the past 15 years.  They, in turn, were pieced into the shibori wholecloth.

The resulting work represents one of those rare times when what is created comes very close to the image in ones imagination.  So, thanks, to my resident creative spirits, Boats at Slack Tide is in.